Shavarath

Three great armies mass eternally on the barren plains of Shavarath: a celestial host of archons, an infernal regiment of devils, and a swarming horde of demons. Warfare defines all aspects of their existence. Alliances come and go—usually involving the devils allying with one or the other of their enemies and then breaking the alliance when the situation changes to their advantage—but the warfare never ends. Slain soldiers eventually return, usually in a lower form, but the armies of the three forces remain forever in a rough balance.
Fortresses dot the landscape of Shavarath, each one locked in a great siege. Every fortress eventually falls, and they all shift hands many times before fi nally being reduced to rubble. As one collapses, a new one is built to replace it. Beyond these fortresses, the rocky and barren landscape stretches in all directions, sporadically accentuated by low hills—the only distinguishable terrain anywhere on the plane.
Shavarath has the following traits:

• Alignment: Areas held by the archons are mildly good-aligned and mildly lawful-aligned. Areas held by the devils are mildly evil-aligned and mildly lawfulaligned. Areas held by the demons are mildly chaosaligned and mildly evil-aligned. These areas shift constantly, their borders as fluid as the tide of war.
• Enhanced magic: Spells that create, enhance, or mimic weapons (such as flame blade, keen edge, and Mordenkainen’s sword), and spells that excite hostile emotions (such as rage, heroism, and antipathy) are extended.
• Impeded magic: Compulsions that calm or pacify hostile creatures, and all charms, are impeded.
• Whirling blades: Creatures not native to Shavarath are subject to attack by whirling blades that travel the plane like flocks of birds. For every hour characters spend on the plane, they have a 70% chance of encountering a cloud of blades that attack for 2d6 rounds and then disperse. In each of those rounds, the blades attack every character, using an attack bonus of +10 and dealing 2d6 points of damage on each successful hit. The blades are treated as magic and evil-aligned weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Geography

Coterminous: When Shavarath draws near, echoes of its endless battles manifest on the Material Plane. In any area embroiled in combat, the enhanced magic and impeded magic traits of Shavarath spill onto the Material Plane. Casting an impeded spells requires a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell level). Also, storms of whirling blades are known to appear at the sites of great battles, both past and present, when Shavarath is coterminous.
Shavarath is coterminous to the Material Plane for one year out of every thirty-six years.
Remote: When Shavarath is remote, no known effects manifest on the Material Plane.

Fauna & Flora

Shavarath Inhabitants: Hound archon, trumpet archon, babau (demon), dretch (demon), glabrezu (demon), hezrou (demon), marilith (demon), quasit (demon), retriever (demon), barbed devil, bearded devil, bone devil, chain devil, erinyes (devil), horned devil, imp (devil), vargouille, Bladeling, Arrow demon, deathshrieker, mivilorn, ragewalker, shredstorm.

Alternative Name(s)

The Battleground

Type

Dimensional plane

Location under

Planes of Existance